Staff Reporter.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore landed the first punch in the 14th edition of the Vivo IPL as they claimed a nerve-racking final-ball two-wicket win over the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the competition at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Harshal Patel was the hero for RCB, picking up 5-27 with the ball before holding his nerve to hit the winning single off the final ball of the match, ending unbeaten on four as RCB reached 160 for eight.
RCB had won the toss and sent MI in to bat and restricted them to 159 for nine in their 20 overs thanks to Patel’s five-wicket haul.
RCB looked to be cruising to an easy win with Virat Kohli, 33 off 29 (4×4) and Glenn Maxwell, 39 off 28 balls (3×4; 2×6) at the crease, before a few quick wickets meant AB de Villiers had to play a key hand, striking a quickfire 48 off 27 balls (4×4; 2×6) to almost get them home before he was run out in the last over.
The chase got off to a solid start as 35 came off the first four overs, before the breakthrough came in the fifth as Krunal Pandya ended the 36-run partnership between Washington Sundar (10) and Kohli, as Sundar top-edged the ball to Chris Lynn.
Rajat Patidar (8) didn’t last long as he chopped on a Trent Boult slower delivery in the next over, leaving RCB on 46 for two.
Maxwell joined Kohli at the crease and they set up the chase with a 52-run third-wicket stand, however, three quick wickets brought the MI back into the match.
First Kohli was trapped LBW by Jasprit Bumrah, while Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed (1) were both caught off the bowling of Marco Jansen as RCB slipped to 106 for five after 15 overs.
But De Villiers took charge, dominating partnerships of 16 and 30 with Dan Christian (1) and Kyle Jamieson (4) respectively, before he departed with two needed off the final two balls, leaving Patel to finish off the perfect game for him.
The crazy final over saw Kieran Pollard (7) and Pandya (7) both caught on the boundary off the first two balls going for big shots, while Marco Jansen was bowled for a second-ball duck and Rahul Chahar was run out for a duck in a frantic last six balls.
MUMBAI INDIANS: Rohit Sharma (capt), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Marco Jansen, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Virat Kohli (capt), Rajat Patidar, AB de Villiers (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal.